The country saw a big increase in industrial production and export in January, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade during a teleconference reviewing the country's industrial performance in Hanoi on February 4.

Industrial production rose by 21.1 percent in January, which was attributable to rising consumer demand ahead of the Tet holiday in February.

The country's export turnover posted 10.1 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 43.2 percent. This has been hailed as a good signal for the country's export sector this year.

Also in January, the country's import is estimated to have reached 9.9 billion USD, a 0.4 percent increase from December 2012 and a 42.3 percent rise compared to the same period last year.

Speaking at the teleconference, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that although export in January was up it remained unstable and he reminded businesses to focus on manufacturing high value items for export in the electronics sector to raise the country's export value.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that the inventory index remained high in some industries such as the processing and manufacturing sectors. The sugar processing industry has seen a high inventory of 65 percent, a year-on-year increase of 18.2 percent.

The revenue collected from retail sales and services in January totalled 209 trillion VND, a year-on-year increase of 8.1 percent.

To ensure supply during Tet, price stabilisation programmes are being carried out in 37 cities and provinces. Businesses have also prepared a large volume of goods to be supplied for Tet.-VNA